Guadalupe is a barrio (suburb) in San Miguel de Allende about five minutes walk from the Centro Historico. if you are a lover of street art, this is the place for you. Literally there is so much of it, and it is amazing.
It’s an up and coming area with great cafes, tree lined, narrow cobbled streets, small, boxy eclectic coloured houses and did I mention, the best street art ever! This barrio has such a great feel and vibe and Rosie and The Operator have visited it multiple times.
Before 2013 street art was banned in the city and a group of art lovers got together and lobbied the town authorities.
The Murales en Blanco (White Walls) was initiated in Guadalupe and since then over 100 murals have been painted in this suburb and around town by local and international artists.
Guadalupe is like a slice of heaven, it’s so quiet and peaceful as we wander the streets. The continual roar of traffic and buses that is the soundtrack of the Old Town is completely absent here. You can actually hear the birds and the flow of water in the river which we were down by today.
The art on the walls isn’t the only drawcard, the colourful houses, quirky shops and quiet streets with great cafes are brilliant too.
Alot of the houses here are undergoing renovation as the area tidies itself up. The river which borders the back of the barrio is overgrown, smelly and full of rubbish.
Piles of rubbish, faeces and giant ant hills line the river bank and it is really distasteful and disappointing. Rosie can so see this area rejuvenated and a footpath/cycleway tracing the banks of the river making the property values soar in this area….. It is ripe for redevelopment of some sort….Rosie would love to see what this area looks like in 10 years. Then again it is its raw, grunginess which appeals right now to Rosie.
Rosie also gets some of her ready made meals here at the Via Organico Cafe. Its a quirky cafe and grocery store frequented mainly by Americans.
Its hard to get pre made meals here in San Miguel as everyone cooks from scratch. They sell a range of premade salads, vegetarian lasganes, eggplant parmigianos and the most crusty homemade bread and delicious soups. I also buy hummous, cheese and kumara chips to snack on with my beer.
Yes, its an organic vegetarian place, as the name implies…much to The Operators disgust when we first discovered it on our first trip into Guadalupe when we stopped for lunch. But it has been a mainstay for Rosie during her time here…..cant complain about fresh, cheap and healthy. This is the only shop in the whole of Mexico that does not offer you a plastic bag. Yay.
Walking in to get groceries, Rosie notices that a wall has been newly painted white and two guys are hard at work in the self casting shadow of the wall painting a brand new mural with spray cans hard and fast before it gets too hot. Rosie stops to take pics, they say hello.
They are young street artists from Mexico City and say they applied for a wall here in Guadalupe a while ago, this one is in prime position and is going to look amazing! They say it will take two days, they start at first light and will finish about mid day when the sun is fully on the wall and too hot to work.
The next time Rosie goes for groceries…..it is finished. Well done guys, it is amazing. Rosie would like to thank this area for giving her countless hours of wanderings peeking into nooks and crannies, she has enjoyed it immensley.
Tomorrow, I will show you around the rest of San Miguel de Allende.
